Music And MoviesI
kicked things off Diana Krall’s Love Scenes (GRP Records) and the track
“My Love Is.” The opening finger snaps sounded natural, with good
speed, detail and air. The accompanying double bass was also quite
nice, allowing the sub to strut its stuff while blending beautifully
with the IWCB-52s’ lower midrange. Speaking of the lower midrange, the
IWCB-52s’ was rather good and plunged deeper than I was expecting,
while remaining extremely nimble. Krall’s vocals through the IWCB-52s
were natural-sounding in both tonality and scale. However, they were a
bit forward-sounding, which brought Krall way forward in the
soundstage, which in a small ensemble number such as “My Love Is” was
welcomed. As far as imaging is concerned, the IWCB-52s are capable of
producing a strong center image, which is where Krall was firmly
planted, with the large double bass further back in the overall aural
picture. The IWCB-52s do an admirable job of producing a soundstage,
but they don’t quite have the depth beyond the front wall that more
expensive in-walls have. Still, their side to side presentation is very
good. So, does the DVC work? The entire track, and I mean everything
from the large double bass to Krall’s vocals, rang out at or near ear
level, creating quite an interesting performance, if not a slightly
disorienting one. You see, my eyes could see the speakers, yet my mind
told me that the sound was coming from directly in front of me. If I
remained focused straight ahead, the sound appeared dead center, as if
from nowhere, but if my eyes wandered up, the sound would move up to
the speakers. It took a few songs for me to get used to the illusion,
but once I was used to it, the effect was eerie and cool.

I
decided to give the IWCB-52s a bit more to grapple with and cued up
Incubus’ latest album, Light Grenades (Sony). On the track “Dig,” I
decided to punish the speakers a bit and throttled the volume towards
11. At the extremes, the IWCB-52s’ sound flattened a bit and became a
bit more forward and aggressive, but not fatiguing or overtly harsh.
The sub remained incredibly composed and dished out rich, deep and taut
bass, despite my aggressive attempts to make it blow up. Bring the
volume back to Earth a bit, the sound filled back out and retained a
bit of its composure and musicality. The vocals remained the focus and
fell forward of the rest of the musical spectrum. The guitars had the
appropriate amount of bite to them and, for the most part, sounded
natural to my ears. However, that last bit of detail and air that would
fool one into thinking they were hearing the real instrument was
missing, but even the most expensive in-wall speakers generally suffer
in the same way. My guess is that it is just a measure of physics more
than any kind of design flaw.

Before
I dove into movies, I took a detour with some multi-channel music
spinning up VH1 Storytellers: Matchbox Twenty on DVD (VH1 Television).
Starting with the track “Mad Season” in Dolby Digital, the IWCB-52s’
presentation sweetened up a bit. The IWCB-52 upper midrange was still a
bit forward-sounding, but it didn’t shout quite as much when I pumped
the volume. The tweeter and subsequent higher frequencies gained a bit
of smoothness and sparkle. The bass remained most consistent, as did
the lower midrange. The nice thing about the IWCB-52s is that they
paint a very large image for speakers of their size. Skipping ahead to
the song “Crutch,” the swanky rendition wasn’t robbed of its
lounge-like quality through the IWCB-52s. The jazzy cymbal crashes
sounded the most natural thus far in my listening tests, with a fair
amount of air and shimmer. Rob Thomas’ vocals had tremendous presence
and scale and stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the musical
elements. The horns were my favorite, sounding full, rich and the most
natural by far.

For
films, I kicked things off with Bad Boys II (Columbia/TriStar Home
Entertainment) on DVD and chaptered ahead to the freeway chase scene
and let ‘er rip. Bingo. From the roaring engine note of the Ferrari 575
to the crashing and crunching sound of the cars bouncing off the
pavement, the sound was epic and involving. I’ve spent my share of time
in mixing studios and the sound of the IWCB-52s with movies is up there
with the best of them. The adrenaline-fueled ride the IWCB-52s can dish
out is intoxicating. The sounds of shattering glass were enveloping,
explosive and extremely nimble across all five speakers, creating a
seamless 360-degree circle of carnage. The midrange, especially
dialogue, held firm amidst the action unfolding on screen. The lower
midrange was quite nimble and hugely dynamic, which helped solidify the
sense of speed from the sub, especially in regards to the bob and weave
driving of the large semi-truck. Dynamically, the IWCB-52s are
juggernauts; they don’t take a whole lot of power to do their thing,
but they can and will use it judiciously if need be to rock you to your
core. The surround sound performance was seamless, allowing me to
forget about the speakers themselves and focus not only on their sound,
but also ultimately on the film itself, which is the idea.

I
ended my evaluation of the IWCB-52s with Signs (Touchstone Home
Entertainment). Signs, despite being a huge blockbuster movie, is
filled with subtlety. The quiet backdrop of the farm and rustling of
the crops and leaves down to the gently clanging wind chime were
rendered faithfully and without incident. The IWCB-52s did a remarkable
job of conveying the sparseness of the landscape and even the
characters themselves. It’s the film’s lack of crash and bang sound and
the IWCB-52 complete restraint that made the important sounds, like the
alien dialogue, all the more relevant, haunting and dynamic. James
Newton Howard’s score was beautifully rendered through the IWCB-52s and
remained rather subdued and in the background when necessary, despite
the IWCB-52s’ tendency to be a bit forward. When the action finally
picks up in the end, the IWCB-52s’ ability to go for broke was highly
effective. The IWCB-52s really know how to grab at the pulse of a scene
and pump blood through it, however fast or slow it’s needed. They
really are exceptional speakers for movies, especially ones calling for
suspense and action.